


Apologies and Nose Bleeds

by CharlesLovesU



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: (understandable), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anger, Blood and Injury, Communication, First Kiss, Fluff, Geralt POV, Guilt, Hair Pulling, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, apology, before Ciri / post argument so you cant fit it in the timeline lol whoops, no really jas is ANGERY, no smut tho hold your FUCKING horses, sort of... god help getting sentences out of the buff himbo that is Geralt of Rivia, they do makeout tho so wig, they're both bi of sexual dumb of ass and thats okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22323247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlesLovesU/pseuds/CharlesLovesU
Summary: Years after the argument on the mountain, by pure chance Geralt finds himself in the exact tavern Jaskier is performing in that night, singing a melancholy love song that /definitely/ can't be about him.The wrath of the emotionally hurt twink comes for us all.Apologies and violence.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 33
Kudos: 632





	Apologies and Nose Bleeds

**Author's Note:**

> me.... writing a fic again..... galaxy brain time
> 
> according to screentime i spent 9h 52m on this so enjoy bc im way too obsessive over the steaming shit i put out ok have fun i hope u like it

  
Geralt didn't know what drew him to this tavern. 

The sun was still a song away from setting, his energy far from depleted and mind miles away from ale and yet...

He found himself hurrying on this trail that seemed like any other, though the destination called for him like none had done in quite a while. He supposed it was the call of company, his body craving for another soul besides Roach to be around. 

He grimaced through the guilt spreading through him like poison. No one knew better than him why he was alone. Though, before his indulgence in companionship, he never felt as lonely as he does now without it. 

The lights were inviting, the slowly darkening sky only proving them more so as he drew nearer to the entrance, heavy boots marking the gravel with confidence. 

It was just at the cusp of entering that he halted, the music from inside the tavern as shockingly familiar as a punch to the face. The wordless sounds of the lute were enough to send a chill down his spine, not-so-distant memories swirling his mind like a bittersweet dream he had yet to unpack. 

In the last few years, he had both avoided and sought out places like this in the irrational fear, yet desire, of the exact situation he's found himself in.

Could it really be...?

No.

 _Right_ ?

With a sigh, he let himself in. 

The song seemed heavier, sadder, now that he was more than aware of its presence. 

He averted his gaze from where he could assume the musician was standing. He'd deal with _knowing_ in a moment.

With his focus to not being seen, as hard as that was for him, he snuck through the thankfully-too-packed-to-pay-attention-to-him place into a dim corner he hoped would conceal him, at the very least at first glance. The ones who may have noticed him, didn't comment. 

The lute continued it's instrumental, Geralt hesitant to look up, knowing full well who he'd have to face. 

But the world confirmed it for him when the lyrics picked up once more.

" _You never want to listen._ " Jaskier sung, sending a shiver down his spine. He hadn't heard his voice in years. 

Not since the mountain. 

Not since he left. 

Not since he told him to, quite dramatically.

" _But I follow with my song_." It was softer than he remembered, through the caricature of the annoyance of Jaskier's presence he'd created in his mind. Maybe to justify it all. 

In truth, his voice was nice. Maybe used a little too much back then, but... On the quietest days, a part of him missed it.

He'd never tell him that, though, if he even got the chance to.

" _Despite how you push, my love_ ,"

My _love_? Who on earth was _this_ song about?

He held back the sinking feeling in his gut, like bile filling his lungs. A possessiveness he hadn't earned. One he didn't think he had over the bard.

He finally looked up then. 

" _You've always pulled me along._ " Jaskier looked beautiful, bright blue eyes dancing through the room as his masterful playing kept the room on him, too. 

But on a deeper look, he seemed so _exhausted_. Geralt could smell the sadness on him, and it tore right through his chest in every direction. 

Geralt pushed himself further into the shadows, watching Jaskier as he walked around the tavern, though his energy didn't take him very far. The melancholy melody strung out through the place, enthralling many of the patrons who seemed eager to take the poor bard's pain away. 

It didn't help when Jaskier played along, letting the first pretty face he saw practically _cradle him_ as he continued his song with her arms around him. 

" _I gave my head on a platter_ ," he sang louder, resting his head on her shoulder as he did so. She ran her fingers through his hair, tossing a coin into the bag on his waist with her free hand.

Geralt's mouth twitched, the twists in his stomach ever-present.

" _Asked for us to run away._ " Jaskier sang as he stood away from the woman onto the crowd again. 

The witcher's eyes widened as he remembered the conversation they'd had on the mountain, sat beside each other on that rock. Maybe one of the last times he'd heard Jaskier's voice without hurt in it, before he fucked it all up.

But the song _couldn't_ be about him. 

" _But you're as beautiful as disaster_ ," He sang to the face of some blonde man Geralt wanted to put his hands around the throat of. 

" _Is chaos worth to_ -" It was then that Jaskier locked eyes with him through the room, the shock in his face only slightly showing in his voice, "- _t-_ to _feel t_ his _way_?"

Jaskier jumped away from the man, frozen in place. Wide, blue eyes stared Geralt down as he continued the next verse of his song, " _You don't want to be needed, or to feel your heart starve._ "

He felt all eyes on him now. 

" _You're **blessed** for me to leave you_." Jaskier forced out, his voice colder than before.

But the only eyes that mattered were his.

" _And yet_ ," he laughed bitterly through the last chords, " _here we are_." 

Geralt stood then, taking that as his cue to leave. 

Jas could continue his next song and all of this could've never happened. 

"I'm sorry." He said quietly as he passed the bard, making it past him too quick to notice the shocked faces of the few patrons who heard him.

Just as he gained some distance from the door to the first direction he could find some privacy to brood and hate himself in, he heard Jaskier's voice again, stopping him in his tracks. 

"For fucks s- **_GERALT_**!" Jaskier yelled, followed by the sound of a lute being dropped carelessly on the grass. 

He turned around hesitantly, unprepared on what to say, if anything could really be said to fix it all, "Jaskier, I-" 

But he was cut off by Jaskier landing a punch right on his nose.

He stumbled back in shock, the pain processing miles later than the surprise.

" _Fuck you_ , Geralt." Jaskier said as he shook his hand to ease the pain, "To the heavens and back, _fuck_ you." 

Geralt wiped at his face, surprised to see his nose was bleeding, "Hm."

"You don't get to apologize just to try and leave me again!" Jaskier yelled, punching him in the chest this time, though it didn't have as much force behind it,"You owe me more than that!"

"I know. I'm sorry." He said quietly. The words felt foreign in his mouth, though they needed to be said. 

"Just- how _dare_ you, Geralt. _How fucking dare you!?_ " He was close to tears, his hands moving frantically as he spoke,"All the years I've known you and you try to blame _me_ for all your problems then _push me away_! For what? To show up again years later just to remind me? To taunt me? To _run_?" 

He punched him in the chest again, Geralt standing there and taking it, unsure of how else to react. He'd never seen the bard this angry.

"I'm _not_ your burden! I'm not the c-cause of all the things wrong with your fucking life!" Jaskier kept hitting him, it growing weaker each time as tears started to fall, "And I'm s _ick_ -" His voice broke then, " _Beyond_ sick of feeling like I am!" 

"I'm sorry." Geralt put his hands on the bard's shoulders, Jaskier continuing to hit him weakly until Geralt enwrapped his body into a hug, forcing his arms down with the movement. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of Jaskier's chest on his own, the sadness and quiet tears the bard tried to stifle being loud as could be to the witcher, "I'm sorry." 

It took a while, but Jaskier eventually calmed, wrapping his arms around him tightly. 

"Don't think I forgive you because you have nice arms." Jaskier said, his face practically crushed into Geralt's neck, "Though I am surprised you, _Geralt of Rivia, Butcher of Blaviken_ , are a hugger."

"I'm not... usually." It was the first time he'd hugged Jas- No, the first time he'd hugged _anyone_ in a very long time. He did it purely for the bard _now_ , but he'd be lying if he said it didn't soothe a deep ache in his chest. 

"Well, I'm glad to make your exceptions list." He said, "The rabbit that softened the big white wolf... And punched it in the nose." 

Geralt rolled his eyes, touching his face to see if it was still bleeding. 

It was. 

He'd deal with that later.

Jaskier let go then, sitting down onto the grass where he'd dropped his lute. Without picking it up, he plucked a couple strings mindlessly, Geralt watching him without a word. It was strangely mesmerizing, the bard under the moonlight, so lost in thought.

"Why'd you even come here?" Jaskier said finally, "How did you find me?" 

"Coincidence." He answered simply, honestly. 

"Ah, well. Travel enough haystacks and you'll find a needle eventually." He laughed humorlessly, "Would you have at least _tried_ to find me and apologize if _coincidence_ didn't place you right in front of me?"

He'd barely opened his mouth before Jaskier cut him off with, "Don't answer that." 

Geralt sat down beside him, raising his hand to Jaskier's shoulder but deciding against it, placing it back on the grass behind him, "I _am_ sorry, Jaskier. I've been a shitty friend, and unfair to you."

Jaskier smiled at him then, "You admit I'm a friend, at least. Only took you over a decade." 

"Hm." Geralt nodded solemnly, "I wouldn't push it." 

Jaskier laughed, "I have missed you, Geralt." 

"I don't deserve to be missed." 

"And yet..." He shrugged, "It's hard to not think of you when the only songs that make me enough coin these days are about the legendary adventures of the Witcher. Everyone knows me as _your_ bard... Someone who _was_ your bard, anyway." 

He clenched his jaw, the ' _was_ ' ringing out.

It wasn't fair to call Jas 'his' bard. Not when he was the one who'd seemingly begged the skies to make him not be his _anything_. 

The ice cold feeling of the past tense was what he deserved. 

"They're my favourites, too, if I'm quite honest." Jaskier continued despite the silence of the witcher's tongue and the turning gears of his head,"Though they made me yearn the days I wrote them because I was beside you, seeing it for myself. I couldn't write on your adventures anymore, not being part of them. That absence of my muse was the most frequent reminder. I had _fun_ with you, Geralt." 

Geralt paused, wondering if it was his right to ask the biggest question on his mind, "Was the song inside about-"

" _You_? Yes." He looked down at his hands, nervously playing with a blade of grass, "I don't think the others know that. Connecting the dots and all."

Geralt looked at him, the words ' _my love_ ' echoing in his mind, over and over.

"It's a hopeless game, loving a witcher." There was more fear in Jaskier's eyes when he looked back up at him, "They probably take me as less a fool." 

"You're not a fool, Jaskier." 

The silence between them felt heavier now, neither sure what this moment meant for them. But there's no going back on things that were said, only wether they choose to act accordingly. 

Geralt leaned in, Jaskier's gaze moving frantically from his eyes to his lips. 

It felt like what he was meant to do. 

Not much worked while mixing Geralt and emotion. But this... It felt right. 

Jaskier's breath hitched when their lips met, his hands coming up to Geralt's face, resting one on his cheek and the other on his knee. He melted into it, letting Jas hold him ever so gently.

The time of which it lasted slipped away from him, his only thoughts being to do it more, again, _again_. 

Jaskier pulled away for a moment, adjusting his position so they faced each other, jumping over so his legs straddled Geralt's, which were placed flatly on the ground. Jaskier stood on his knees, placing both arms around the witcher's shoulders.

The bard now stood taller than him, though he couldn't say he minded this.

He deepened the kiss, Geralt putting both hands on his waist, pulling him closer, as close as he could get. 

Jaskier bit his bottom lip, putting a hand behind Geralt's head so he could _tug_ on his hair.

" _Fuck_." He said into his teeth, grasping tightly at Jaskier's shirt. Jaskier kissed the corner of his mouth, using the grasp he had on his hair to roughly pull the witcher's head lower, placing kisses along his jaw. 

It was in the middle of this that he jerked away, leaving Geralt fairly confused. 

"Oh, gods, we're still outside." Jaskier said in laughter, "As much as it pains me, raincheck on this? We _are_ close to a tavern with much cozier beds, and all. I've been waiting _much_ too long for this to do it in the dirt." 

"Hm." Geralt said in hazy acceptance, unsure if he could say much else.

Jaskier placed a few more kisses onto his lips for good measure, the witcher returning them gladly, before sitting back down next to him, placing a hand over Geralt's. He could still see the blush on Jaskier's face under the moonlight. 

"I'd write a song about this, but I don't think anyone would believe me." 

"Hm. Probably not." He said, "Your face is covered in blood." 

"It was _your_ nosebleed, imagine how _you_ look right now!" He pointed out, his voice then shifting to concern as he reached a hand out to the witcher's face, "Is it still bleeding?"

"No." Geralt said, instinct telling him to push the bards hand away, but he didn't.

"Probably not broken, then." He shrugged, "Would be a real shame to hurt that handsome face of yours. Though, you still look nice." 

Geralt raised an eyebrow at him.

"The blood suits you!" He said excitedly, "There's something poetic that can be said about the bleed that _I_ caused you in _anger_ , the fighter who is normally only covered in the blood of monsters, coming back to _me_ when I kiss you in the _tenderness_ of a first kiss-"

"Shut the fuck up, bard." Geralt said, though there was no bite behind it, the corner of his lips raising, if only a little. 

Jaskier smiled wider in return, Geralt suddenly wondering why he'd ever let this annoying idiot slip away.

"I thought I fucked it." Geralt admitted, "That if I found you again, you wouldn't want to see me."

"You can't rid of me that easy." Jaskier said, and it made him feel warmer inside, "I never stopped liking you just because you're an idiot who can't deal with any emotion to save his lovely bottom." 

Geralt snorted at that. 

"Though, I don't forgive you just yet, mind you." He said, tone a little more serious now, "You're an absolute prick to be around sometimes. I'm hoping now since you've kicked our friendship to absolute rock bottom these last few years, that you've learnt where up _is_. The fact you've spoken more than one non-belittling sentence today is _beyond_ you." 

Geralt wanted to defend himself, though he didn't think he could here.

"I knew what I signed up for, Geralt. You're a _since-day-one_ dick. I know you." Jaskier sighed, "I saw right through your 'Hrngh you're not my friend' shit most of the time. But at the very least _some_ acknowledgement that I'm not just your nuisance would be _lovely_." 

"You aren't." Geralt said. 

He pondered his next words, expressing himself not usually being a problem he has to deal with, though Jas seemed more than aware of this, giving him time to think.

"Too often... I've left you behind, treated you like shit." He said, "I _do_ like you, Jaskier. Despite..." 

Jas smiled sadly at him. It made his chest ache. 

"In all my mistakes, that day on the mountain is up there with the worst. My anger with everything should've never reached you. I'm... sorry." 

"It does soothe my heart to hear that, if only so slightly." Jaskier said solemnly, swallowing down the waver in his voice, "Friend?"

Geralt nodded, his word bank just about overspent. 

Jaskier leaned in again, intertwining their fingers as he placed another kiss onto the witcher. It was hastier than the others, the bard pulling away and resting his forehead against his. 

"My offer to run away is still up, you know."

It stayed in the air for a moment. 

In the years traveling alone again, he had wondered many more times than he'd admit what life would be like had he left when the bard asked him to. 

He turned away. 

"I wish I'd taken it when you offered it." Geralt shook his head, "But I still have a child of surprise to find." 

"A man of his destiny." Jaskier sighed defeatedly, "I suppose each year you dilly-dally, fate becomes more dire."

"I'm not... _dilly-dallying_." 

Jaskier laughed, "Of course not." 

They both knew what was left to ask, though it was a persistence game of who's tongue it reached first.

" _If_... you'll have me..." Jaskier hesitated, "I-"

"Join me." Geralt interrupted. 

"Has been too long, hasn't it?" Jaskier smiled, " _You've_ missed my charm and good looks!" 

"I'm missing silence already." 

"You can tell yourself that all you want, Geralt." He said, "Though I can't say I believe you as much this time around." 

"Hm." 

"Now come _on_ ," Jaskier whined as he pulled himself up, still holding the witcher's hand, "We've got a room to order, a bath to take, and a night to seize!"

Well, he couldn't say no to that. 

To say the patrons of the inn were gawking when the witcher entered once again, pulled by the hand by his cheery bard who was babbling a mile a minute about the _'desires of the flesh'_ and _'beautifully infinite yet finite time of the night'_ , would be an understatement. 

If they had any comment to say about their order of the best, one-bed bedroom the inn had, well, they kept that to themselves. 

The witcher smiled for every patron that couldn't look them in the eye the next morning, but the only eyes that mattered were the bright blue ones across from him, happy and by his side again.

**Author's Note:**

> a ! it over ! hope u enjoyed ! 
> 
> i struggled like shit to write G w/o making his emotionally and wordically constipated ass too cheesy . Jas i just went all out for , the bi of sexual dumbass really could say anything and you'd be like yeah
> 
> the song Jas sings is like half of a poem i wrote lol (thats why its shit~). it wasnt written w the fic in mind so fitting it in and it working was galaxy brain luck. definitely doesnt work like a song if you think too hard but who's here for thonkin !
> 
> big thx to my partner introducing me to the show it good shit and we both ship these dumbass gays bc they rlly do be like that
> 
> if u comment ill owe u my life ty bye see you in my new obsession


End file.
